Rehearsals for Retirement/Gunfight at Carnegie Hall

Rehearsals for Retirement/Gunfight at Carnegie Hall

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Two of Phil's classic A&M albums. 'Rehearsals For Retirement' has a lot to do with the '68 Democratic convention, which Ochs attended. The live album 'Gunfight At Carnegie Hall' aroused controversy for the unlikely covers of Buddy Holly & Elvis Presley. 18 tracks on 2 CD's. Slimline double jewel case. 2000 release.

Rehearsals for Retirement/Gunfight at Carnegie Hall,Phil Ochs,Collector's Choice,Folk,Folk & Traditional,Folk-Rock,Pop,Singer/Songwriter

Average customer rating:

I was at the gunfight at carnegie hall--a historic night!

"Rehearsals" is brimming with tragic genius...

ROR 5 Stars w Gunfight as an entertaining curio

Record company ...

Underrated classic/fascinating curio

Rehearsals for Retirement/Gunfight at Carnegie Hall
Phil Ochs
Manufacturer: Collector's Choice
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music
Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music
Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Tape From California

Phil Ochs in Concert

All the News That's Fit to Sing/I Ain't Marching Anymore

There and Now: Live in Vancouver

There But for Fortune

ASIN: B00004YL2J
Release Date: 2000-11-14

Tracks:

Pretty Smart On My Part
The Doll House
I Kill Therefore I Am
William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed
My Life
The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns
The World Began In Eden But Ended In Los Angeles
Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore
Another Age
Rehearsals For Retirement

Tracks:

Mona Lisa
I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
Oakie From Meskogee
Chords Of Fame
Buddy Holly Medley: Not Fade Away/I'm Gonna Love You Too/Think It Over/Oh Boy/Everyday It's So...
Pleasures Of The Harbor
Tape From California
Elvis Medley And Encore: My Baby Left Me/I'm Ready/Heartbreak Hotel/All Shook Up/Are You Lonesome...
A Fool Such As I

Product Description

Disc 1: Rehearsals For Retirement:
1. Pretty Smart On My Part
2. Doll House, The
3. I Kill Therefore I Am
4. William Butler Yeats Visits Lincoln Park And Escapes Unscathed
5. My Life
6. Scorpion Departs But Never Returns, The
7. World Began In Eden And Ended In Los Angeles
8. Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore
9. Another Age
10. Rehearsals For Retirement

Disc 2: Gunfight At Carnegie Hall:
1. Mona Lisa
2. I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
3. Oakie From Meskogee
4. Chords Of Fame
5. Buddy Holly Medley: Not Fade Away giI'm Gonna Love You Too giThink It Over giOh Boy! giEveryday giIt's So Easy giNot Fade Away
6. Pleasures Of The Harbor
7. Tape From California
8. Elvis Medley: My Baby Left Me giI'm Ready giHeartbreak Hotel
9. Encore: All Shook Up giAre You Lonesome Tonight giMy Baby Left Me giFool Such As I, A - (Encore)

Format: CD

Customer Reviews:

I was at the gunfight at carnegie hall--a historic night!.......2007-03-02

I don't know why people think the concert at Carnegie Hall was a failure of some sort. It wasn't. I was present at the late show which began at midnight. After the earlier show, Phil broke through one of the windows at the entrance when they woulnd't let him back in. I think he had stitches and he was pretty drunk but he played the second show anyway. And what a show it was! I can only tell you that after some resistance the crowd did get what he was doing and the show went on for hours. In fact everyone was dancing by the end, including the ushers. Even after management attempted to turn off the power the concert continued! (Phil said "Turn the power on-pass it back!" and within minutes the entire place was demanding more power and they did turn it back on.) I have been to a couple of hundred concerts over the years and this one ranks as one of the best, if not the best! It was an utterly legendary night! I miss Phil Ochs.

"Rehearsals" is brimming with tragic genius..........2006-06-05

...and "Gunfight" is not the disaster that everyone makes it out to be--not by a long shot! Ochs sounded great in a live setting, and he had a nice, tight little band behind him. 'I Ain't Marchin' Anymore' is flawless, while 'A Fool Such As I' is one of the most faithful and affectionate cover versions I've ever heard. It's too bad that Ochs's audience couldn't relate to his love for those great old Elvis and Buddy Holly songs.
The studio disc is, of course, the greatest Phil Ochs album. From the lean acoustic chords of 'Pretty Smart On My Part', to the eerie piano intro on 'The Doll House', to the heartbreaking title track and 'Doesn't Lenny Live Here Anymore', Ochs proved on "Rehearsals for Retirement" that he could go toe-to-toe with Dylan, Paul Simon, or any of the other great songwriters of the sixties. What a shame that his life ended the way it did.
Yes, this *is* an odd pairing of albums, but you certainly can't complain about them in terms of pure quality. There's not a bad track on either one of these discs. Find a copy of Marc Eliot's Phil Ochs bio "Death of a Rebel", if you can, and read while you listen.

ROR 5 Stars w Gunfight as an entertaining curio.......2005-05-07

"Rehearsals for Retirement" is probably Och's most personal album. Considering his demons, then, this may be somewhat harrowing an experience for some listeners. Owing to later events, one senses the "retirement" he's singing about wasn't only referring to a possible career change. The music, however, is the best of his career--ranging from beautiful to rocking. As for the lyrics, ROR captures his typical sarcasm, this time around dealing with the underwhelming results of the 1968 Democratic convention protests. Evidently, though, the event was life-changing for socially-conscious Ochs, and, thus, accounts for much of the disillusionment he also sings about here. Overall, I doubt fewer more significant "primal screams" have ever been recorded.

As for the gold-suited wearing Ochs' of "Gunfight," it's an entertaining as well as interesting concert to hear. In my opinion, it contains the best version of "Tape From California"--it rocks! Those who didn't like Ochs' wardrobe at the time, nor his choice of covers, were just short-sighted in my opinion, and missed the humor. In short, a good album and not quite the "beginning of the end" a lot of people read it as. How I understand it, Ochs' vocal chords were damaged shortly before he died and, thus, doomed his career more than any lack of interest on the public's part (though there was plenty of that, too, in 1976).

Too bad the movie was never made that was intended to star Sean Penn. Och's career deserves to be better known--"Rehearsals for Retirement" ESPECIALLY deserves a listen. Ochs, perhaps to his misfortune, was a performer who believed in the causes he sang about. And, of course, much of what he sang about is still relevant today. However, unlike Ochs, I still have hope (partially thanks to people like Ochs, ironically--not for his death [Gandhi and MLK serve as better martyrs for those who need one], but for his ability to capture a shared sentiment in song).

In short: Buy this. I don't like the double package either--each album is strong enough to carry its own. However, from my own experience, I was grateful for the opportunity of hearing Gunfight for the first time, which was initially released only in Canada and was long out-of-print.

Record company ..........2001-10-01

I downgrade this CD not so much for its content as for the fact that it so eloquently illustrates how the music industry is ripping us off. "Rehearsals for Retirement" is the better half of the album. It was originally issued in 1969, and rather than reissue that alone, we are forced to buy it with "Gunfight at Carnegie Hall", which is mostly old material.... The cop-bashing in "I Kill Therefore I Am" is a bit dated but otherwise "Rehearsals" features some savage social commentary. Some of this was misinterpreted by the FBI, and earned Phil surveillance, most notably the piece "Pretty Smart On My Part" in which he makes fun of RIGHT wing extremists who would "assassinate the president and take over the government". The government in its stupidity interprets this as a desire for the LEFT to take over the government! Does the government not undertand the meaning of parody? (Actually Phil did stray pretty close to communism in his "Phil Ochs in Concert" album, but this was not noticed).
Those familiar with Phil Ochs' life know that he ended it in a suicide. Knowing how his life ended gives a whole new meaning to the songs "Rehearsals for Retirement" and "My Life" ("My life has been a death to me"), for it shows that the period of despair that ultimately led to his death began with "Rehearsals for Retirement".
Perhaps part of the reason for the despair is that in the 1970s and 1980s it appeared that the political left was vanquished and that the ideals for which Phil sang were not to be. But with the collapse of the stock market reminiscent of 1929 we are reminded of who we are and where we came from.
I recommend this album only for hard-core Phil Ochs fans. If the record companies would either reduce the price of this set or re-release Rehearsals for Retirement (without Gunfight) as a low-price CD like some of the early Dylan records, I would give it at least another star.
Some of the songs from "Rehearsals for Retirement" may be found on "American Troubador", which the casual collector may prefer.

Underrated classic/fascinating curio.......2001-03-10

I stumbled onto Phil Ochs about thirty years too late, buying a discounted version of "American Troubadour", and have been hooked ever since. His later work, especially, touches and captivates me --- Leonard Cohen as sung by Buddy Holly. It was actually on the US election day that I walked into a shop in Soho, London, and found this cd release, and was thrilled beyond belief. It is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the great, underrated albums of the 60's, a bitter and reflective twist on the flower-power era. Still retaining something of his sense of humour, it's an elegiac epitaph for Phil and for his generation.

"Gunfight at the Carnegie Hall" is interesting, if only for its history, but it only reflects a fraction of the actual length, and fairly straightforward covers of rock n'roll standards are as ordinary now as they were baffling then. It still has a stunning live version of "Pleasures of the Harbour", but this can be found on "American Troubadour", anyway. I've tried listening to the comments shouted up from the audience, but they're very hard to hear, so you don't even get the combative atmosphere that you get from Dylan's "1966 Live" cd -- it just sounds like a show that didn't go down too well.

Still, this is well worth buying for "Pleasure of the Harbour" alone. SO BUY IT!

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